The Vale, home of House Arryn, was one of the least important regions in Game of Thrones in its first five seasons. Their leaders remained assiduously neutral, and the region itself was primarily a stopping point for characters on larger journeys—Cat Stark and Tyrion Lannister in Season 1, and Sansa Stark in Season 4. But in the sixth season, the Knights of the Vale join with Jon and Sansa’s northern army, and the quietest of the Seven Kingdoms has finally entered the wars.
The Vale is the northeastern part of the southern half of Westeros, and is one of the continent’s most isolated regions. It is located in the Mountains of the Moon, and as such is filled with rocky hills and valleys. As such, it’s one of the least populated of the Seven Kingdoms. Its power comes from its defensive locations, not huge armies or wealth. The Vale is, however, known for the quality of its knights, if not the size of its armies—their addition to Jon Snow’s armies is a major alliance.
Its isolated nature means that, although it is technically bordered by the Crownlands to the south and the Riverlands to the west, the Vale is still easily shut off from them. The chief road in and out of the Vale is the High Road, which goes from east to west and meets the Kingsroad at the Inn at the Crossroads in the Riverlands. This road has provided almost all of the action to take place in the Vale itself: Cat and Tyrion are attacked by the mountain clans here; Brienne runs into Arya and the Hound; and Sansa and Littlefinger journey through this road on their way to meet the Boltons.
The mountain clans are a notable part of Vale culture in Game of Thrones: these supposed savages are descendants of the First Men who have remained free in the Mountains of the Moon for centuries. Their heritage, violence, and egalitarianism makes them somewhat related to the Wildlings beyond the Wall. Tyrion Lannister recruits some of their clans to aid the Lannisters and himself personally in the first season, but, along with jokes about feeding manhood to goats, they fade into the background as the series progresses. (They play a slightly larger part in the novels, and are specifically paid off by Tywin to leave and lower his son’s influence, but the trajectory is basically the same.)
The mountain clans being descendants of the First Men is one of the interesting historical quirks of the Vale. In Westerosi history, it is most famous for being the landing point for the Andals in their successful invasion. (The Andals are perhaps best thought of as the Saxons to the First Men’s Britons, a successful invasion that eventually merged with the conquered subjects.) House Royce led the fight against the Andal invasion, but House Arryn eventually won, building the impregnable mountain stronghold known as the Eyrie.
After this, the Vale was never conquered, with the Arryns only surrendering to the Targaryens when they landed a dragon in their citadel, the Eyrie. It was largely spared the depredations of the occasional Targaryen civil war, although its lords did take sides.
House Arryn are the Lords Paramount of the Vale. The death of their Lord, Jon Arryn, starts the story of Game of Thrones. He’s succeeded by his son Robin (Robert in the novels, although nicknamed “Sweetrobin”) whose mother, Lysa, rules in his stead. That’s pretty much it for House Arryn.
The only other house to appear are House Baelish, a new, tiny lordship in the Fingers, the worst location in the Vale, but with arguably the cleverest Lord in the Seven Kingdoms, Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish. He marries, then murders, Lysa Arryn and takes control of the Vale. His sudden ascent is opposed by the traditional lords of the Vale. These “Lords Declarant” challenge Littlefinger, but find themselves outmaneuvered by Sansa Stark. One of them, Bronze Yohn Royce, head of one of the most traditionally powerful houses of the Vale, becomes a recurring character—hosting Robin Arryn and helping defeat the Bolton army at the end of Season 6. With the lords of the Vale swearing allegiance to the King in the North, the region will likely become far more active in the final seasons of the show.
Like much of Game of Thrones, the Vale’s scenes are usually shot in Northern Ireland; however, a few cliff scenes have been shot in Iceland as well. The region has not had many iconic outdoor scenes, however, making them difficult to specifically tour.